Israel and PLO Dispute Over Peace Process Ahead of Phase Two Talks

As the PLO chairman Yasser Arafat spends the last day of his visit home in Jericho, a dispute between Israel and the PLO about what happens next in the peace process is growing. The discrepancy centers on the implementation of phase two, which involves extending self-rule to the rest of the West Bank. Israel has drawn up radical plans under which Palestinian elections, scheduled for October, would be shelved and self-rule for the rest of the West Bank scaled down. Redeployment of Israeli forces in sensitive areas such as Hebron might not even happen.

Senior Israeli sources indicate that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has begun to doubt whether Gaza-style autonomy, with Jewish settlements cordoned off, can be replicated in the West Bank where settlements intermesh with Arab towns and villages at every juncture. Furthermore, Mr. Rabin may fear that extending full self-rule to the rest of the West Bank immediately will bring Israeli opposition out in force, and could threaten his chances of winning the next election in 1996. Palestinian self-rule is to be phased in over five years, with talks on the final status of the lands scheduled to begin in two years' time.

Key Takeaways:

• Israel has drawn up radical plans to shelve Palestinian elections, scheduled for October, and scale down self-rule for the rest of the West Bank.
• The plans include potentially not redeploying Israeli forces in sensitive areas such as Hebron.
• Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin doubts whether Gaza-style autonomy can be replicated in the West Bank due to the intermeshing of settlements with Arab towns and villages.
• Rabin fears that extending full self-rule to the rest of the West Bank immediately will bring Israeli opposition out in force and threaten his election chances in 1996.
• Palestinian self-rule is to be phased in over five years, with talks on the final status of the lands scheduled to begin in two years' time.
• The Palestinian National Authority will continue to run Gaza and Jericho and will be given self-rule powers over the rest of the West Bank in about 15 non-contentious areas.
• The authority would be given self-rule on the same scale as exists in Gaza and Jericho, which includes major West Bank cities like Nablus, Ramallah, and Hebron.
• Yasser Arafat has shown new signs of wanting elections to proceed and wants self-rule swiftly extended to major West Bank cities.
• Arafat fears that if the process does not move swiftly, his support in the rest of the West Bank might plummet.
• There are 134 settlements, inhabited by 100,000 settlers, in the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem.

Statistics:

• 134 settlements, inhabited by 100,000 settlers, are spread among the one million Palestinians in Arab towns and villages in the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem.
• The Palestinian National Authority will continue to run Gaza and Jericho.
• 15 non-contentious areas will be given self-rule powers to the Palestinian National Authority in the rest of the West Bank.
• Palestinian self-rule is to be phased in over five years.
• Talks on the final status of the lands are scheduled to begin in two years' time.

Sources:

• "Independent"